


Faint

by TomarryHereWeWhoaAgain



Series: Tomarry D&D-athon [20]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Tom Riddle Is A Sentient House, You Have Been Warned, cliffhanger ending, technically Harry lives inside Tom so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:25:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23766847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomarryHereWeWhoaAgain/pseuds/TomarryHereWeWhoaAgain
Summary: When Harry first moved in, he was sure he’d be moved right back out by the end of the week.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Series: Tomarry D&D-athon [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685716
Comments: 7
Kudos: 149





	Faint

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is for an event I'm kicking off on Tumblr! If you'd like to join the post is [here](https://tomarryherewegoagain.tumblr.com/post/613349981125066752/the-coronavirus-wont-get-us-down-tomarry) or if you just want to learn more about it!
> 
> Day 20: Faint
> 
> TEN MORE DAYS AHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> (will most likely continue this when I have free time djskdbks)

The house was quiet.

Harry laid on his side wide awake watching the night through his window, how the moonlight streamed through bare tree branches, how their silhouettes cast across his windowpanes. The wind unsettled scattered leaves every so often, but no howling noises whistled through the cracks in the centuries-old glass.

The house was quiet.

_Too quiet._

His eyes narrowed. Grabbing his glasses off the bedside table and his wand from under his pillow, he got up and out of bed. The trek to his bedroom door was slow, hesitant even. Harry was more than aware of which floorboards made ear-shattering groans in the night, which were level, and which made barely a creak. 

He learned the hard way not to cast any magic on the old house itself, the built in wards took great offence even after Harry magically claimed the home as his own, introducing his magical signature to the Ward Stone of the house. In return for not casting additional magic, the house tried to provide for Harry in other ways.

Never letting Harry misplace an item, rooms magically expanding on their own, doors leading to places they absolutely shouldn't but exactly where Harry needed them to. In the beginning, it was deeply disconcerting, but the old brick and mortar slowly grew on Harry in a reluctant and oddly charming 'my house might be alive' sort of way.

It was hard to forget that his house might be alive, though. Those thoughts don't just tuck themselves away all well and done.

_Especially after the house had introduced itself two years into Harry's ownership._

Harry's bedroom door needed to be drawn open abruptly if he didn't want it to make a horrible shrieking noise, so he made sure to brace himself, taking a deep breath in and exhaled with the yank.

The hallway was just as quiet.

He leaned out head first, checking right then left and decided there was no point in exploring the _whole_ house for a reason to its sudden silence. He shut the door and pulled it open once again, a clear destination in mind and found himself peering into his library.

Jackpot.

In one of the few lounges Harry had inherited with the home, sat his house personified. The house prefered the name _Voldemort_, though a quick glimpse through Gringotts' preserved records and a few days of matching names with previous Hogwarts students, Harry had learned the house's real name was _Tom_.

Tom was a strange fellow. All sharp lines of a pureblooded aristocrat, complete with the snobby air of superiority and use of the word 'mudblood', but he had very surprising muggle mannerisms. 

Sometimes Harry wondered if Tom even realised he was doing things the mundane way. Even now, as Harry watched Tom leave the settee to crouch beside the fireplace holding a poker and carefully adjusting the logs, Harry wondered if Tom knew little moments like this gave him away.

Harry cleared his throat.

Tom's shoulders jumped, and for just a moment, the whole house had found its missing voice. The wind howled through the glass, the house settled, the humming of magic kicked back up, but only for a moment.

Just as quickly as it returned, it vanished when Tom turned, face blank, to Harry's waiting form.

"I was wondering what you were up too," Now that Harry had Tom's attention, he deemed it safe enough to enter the library entirely, letting his bedroom door close noisily behind him. "You seem quiet tonight. I can barely hear a squeak out of you."

He crossed the room and sat on the lounge Tom had left, tucking his legs underneath him as he leeched whatever heat he could from the fireplace. He knew Tom wouldn't mind, and Harry learned fairly quickly that Tom couldn't really feel anything at all.

It was somewhat sad, actually.

"Harry...No, it's nothing. Just allowing you a peaceful nights rest. Lord Voldemort is gracious." There was something in Tom's eyes when he said Harry's name, but it faded so soon, Harry didn't know what to make of it. 

In its place stood Tom's line of defence number 1, distract Harry with 3rd person speech. Tom was hiding something.

Harry supposed he was hiding something too, though poorly if tonight was any proof of that. He couldn't sleep without Tom's subtle sounds of life to accompany him, and he'd take this secret to his grave.

"Nope, you can't hide from me with that. We've known each other too long now, what's got you moping and resorting to mundane fire poking?"

Tom looked at the poker in his hand and seemed genuinely surprised; he quickly vanished it somewhere — to the bowels of the house, Harry hoped — and looked at Harry again, the face of perfect innocence.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Harry huffed amused, "If I find that poker in my bed like that fish that one time, I will sell you to the Malfoy's up the way. I hear they just absolutely adore a fixer-upper."

Tom glared, his eyes incensed. Harry could hear the books on the shelves shaking so hard, tumbling to the floor that the whole room rumbled, but Harry just smiled. 

"You wouldn't dare." He practically hissed.

"What's wrong, Tom? Would you miss me?"

The whole house went silent again. But Harry could hear, faint like a heartbeat, the steady sounds of Tom's magic carefully arranging the books. The even noise of each 'thump - thump - thump’, one by one as book after book found their home once more.

Harry was ready and joined Tom in his reply, "_Don't be ridiculous_."

Tom's nose scrunched up in the way that always made Harry laugh, "Am I getting too predictable Harry, is that it? Is that why-" 

Tom suddenly cut off.

Harry's mirth could still translate in the quirk of his lips and the crease of his eyes, but he calmed down and tilted his head in quiet question.

When Tom didn't answer, Harry slipped off the settee and onto the floor. He scooched his way to sit beside Tom, overly aware of his hand just millimetres from Tom's misty fingers.

Harry wanted to touch him.

"No really, what's gotten into you?"

Tom's head tipped down, his interest wholly taken by the intricate pattern of the rug they've had for years. His perfect little coil of hair dangled slightly at this angle, a small smile lit Harry's face at the thought of flicking it. 'Merlin, Tom would kill me.'

"Harry," Tom started slowly. Picking his words more mindfully than usual, which was saying something, really. Tom was typically cautious with his words. "You enjoy my company, yes?"

"Of course." Harry didn't hesitate. There was no doubt that Tom took some getting used to, but it had been five years, and now Harry couldn't imagine his life without Tom in it.

"How would you feel," Tom's eyes met Harry's, "If I told you there was a way to make me human again?"

Harry wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, staring into each other's eyes, but to him, it felt like an eternity. When it broke, Harry was struck with a gnawing need to help Tom _immediately_. No time to wait. Tom was becoming a human _right now_. 

"How."

Tom's eyes turned hungry, "How?"

"_Tell me how_."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr (I live here): [@TomarryHereWeWhoaAgain](https://tomarryherewewhoaagain.tumblr.com/)  
Or on Discord: [The Room of Requirement](https://discord.gg/2suak9y)  



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